A MIDLAND IT graduate who called for MPs in favour of the Iraq War to be murdered has been jailed for 12 years.

Calling him “a viper in our midst” Mr Justice Royce told Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, of Dunstall Hill, Wolverhampton, the message “must go out loud and clear – this country will not tolerate such a threat to its democratic process”.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty in May to using the website Revolutionmuslim.com to encourage users to ‘raise the knife of jihad’ against nearly 400 MPs who he claimed had supported the 2003 invasion.

He advised readers how to find out constituency surgery details and provided a link to an online shopping site selling knives.

The web posting, which appeared on the radical US-based site, followed the conviction last November of Roshonara Choudhry for the attempted murder of MP Stephen Timms.

She was radicalised after viewing extremist material online – including some featured on Revolutionmuslim.com. Ahmad praised her attack and said it should inspire others to follow suit.

Inquiries into Ahmad’s online activity following his arrest in November uncovered more offences, resulting in further guilty pleas, including one for intent to stir up religious hatred against Hindus – the first successful conviction for this offence in the UK. Ahmad also admitted three counts of collecting information likely to be of use to a terrorist.

Detective Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell, head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “This was a challenging investigation because Ahmad was posting on foreign-based websites. But the assistance received from agencies in Britain and the US meant we were able to identify, track and bring him to justice in days.

“The sentence shows the severity of what he’s done – he struck at the heart of the democratic system. People may attempt to solicit murder but with the internet, you get a worldwide, immediate audience. There is freedom of speech but people must be responsible for what they put on the internet – this went well beyond the bounds of that.”

Sentencing Ahmad, Mr Justice John Royce said: “The meaning of your message was chillingly clear, find out your MP’s constituency details, get yourself a knife and kill him or her. Whatever your view about the Iraq war, we do not live here by the knife, the gun or the bomb.